Contained in the Apple Final Cut Studio 2 announcement is a new version of Apple’s video-savvy sound editor, Soundtrack Pro. Unfortunately, Apple still hasn’t restored the a la carte, Soundtrack-only purchase option — you have to get Final Cut Studio to get Soundtrack Pro 2. But the new release does build on some of the unique interface ideas of the first version, while adding the key capabilities the first version lacked — namely, usefulness for actually creating soundtracks. And look closely at these screen shots, and you just might see something of the next Logic. (Yeah, I know, you wanted solid information, but it wouldn’t have made sense to talk about a music product like Logic at a broadcast production show like NAB, where Final Cut Studio 2 was launched. When Apple’s ready, I’m sure we’ll hear from them.)

The big news here: Apple is certainly making an effort to push how we edit, in terms of spotting for video and interfaces for surround and effects. We’ll have to see if they pulled it off, and if these paradigms can effectively “trickle up” to their flagship DAW — and whether other developers can push even further in the same direction.

New in 2:

1. Easier editing for video: “Rolling” edits and a new multiport video editor are designed to make spotting easier.
2. Better take management for dialog: One nice feature of the first Soundtrack was its integrated takes; the hope was you’d use this for dialog recording, but it wasn’t quite there yet. The new version lets you take bits of different takes to get ADR right for fixing dialog after the fact. (Needless to say, this kind of take management can be used in other situations, as well, not just video. But unless you buy Final Cut Studio …)
3. Automatic conforming, integrating with Final Cut: This sounds promising, but since some of you actually do conforming, and Final Cut Studio 1 botched a lot of the round-trip integration features between Soundtrack and Final Cut, I’m going to sit on my hands for now. Any thoughts, from those of you who know and what you can see in these … uh, product materials? Okay, never mind.
4. Directly edit spectrums, as seen recently in Adobe Soundbooth CS3, which you can buy a la carte, for both Mac and Windows, or get free with the upcoming Adobe production suite.
5. Surround: Noticeably missing in the first version was surround capabilities, and they’re here in Soundtrack Pro 2. The new surround panner looks beautiful aesthetically, at least. And it’s nice to see panners integrated in the track view. And there’s one unique feature:
6. Combined surround and stereo in one project: Delivering to multiple formats? Now you can keep track of both in one project file. Nice.
7. Surround clips: Since Apple is a big fan of giving you lots of pre-built sound effects and beds, these are now in surround. Hint to production people wanting to look professional, though: hire a composer and sound designer.
8. Tape-style scrubbing as seen recently in Peak Pro 5.
9. New Sound Palette for applying effects via a tooth-achingly pretty interface.
10. Lift & Stamp for matching audio via effects. Done before with EQ, but seems to be done differently here; this is one I’ll definitely have to test to understand. (And, while they say matching EQ, did they say you can match other effects, as well? How?)

Soundtrack Pro 2 might be more interesting to the music market if it were available separately. And Windows users are now spoiled for choice in audio editors, with Audition, Sound Forge, WaveLab, and others.

But you might be able to spot some of the direction in Logic 8 in Soundtrack, as I had argued previously. You’ll see a new, layered interface for plug-ins, a lot like what we’ve seen in tools like iPhoto and Motion. And the surround interface (along with some subtler details to the former-Emagic plug-ins in the screen shots) are definitely an upgrade over Logic Pro 7.

Here’s a quick view of what Logic might offer. The effects have at least gotten an eye candy upgrade. The “Fade selector” to me should at least save some time, even if it’s not quite revolutionary. And as a sound design and effect addict, I love the idea of the Sound Palette and Lift & Stamp features, which let you freely apply effects and match EQ and other effects from sound to sound, respectively. Of course, I won’t be using them the way Apple intends. I’ll be trying to create ungodly applications of convolution reverbs that sound like a Javanese gamelan floated out the port airlock.

Consider this a preview. All bets are off until there’s a shrink-wrapped box in my office. More soon. (Soundtrack is shipping: May. Logic: no one knows.)

Apple Soundtrack Pro 2 Product Page (filled with plenty of demo videos … enjoy)

Fission is the first (and currently only) OS X audio editor to support lossless editing of MP3 and AAC audio. The software has a super simple interface which provides an accurate dual-waveform view and a handful of editing commands that let you split, cut, crop, and fade audio. While still clearly a 1.0 version, it does have some slick features including audible audio scrubbing.

Fission’s streamlined interface is a joy to look at and use. Its only flaw may be that it is too stripped down for some. With a few more features, particularly support for VST and AU plug-ins, Fission could become my go-to audio editor for those times when bringing up Peak is just overkill.

Fission works with mono and stereo MP3s, AAC, Apple Lossless and AIFF audio files and is available now as a Universal Binary that runs natively on PowerPC and Intel Mac for US$32.

The problem is, as always, that you’re limited to pre-defined styles, and Sony has included only 20 options. (There are variations; hard to know without hearing it how cheezy it is, but past experience with this kind of product suggests . . . Velveeta.) But look closely at the brochure: clearly, you have everything you need! “High Adrenaline” “Drum ‘n’ Bass”, “High Voltage” Rock, “Fourth World Surge” Ambient (not entirely sure where the Fourth World is, but I guess it’s nations with even more poverty than the Third World?), and, most importantly, Klezmer! (Hey, if you have 20 styles, you better make one of them Klezmer.) I’m sure it’ll go well with the video about . . . parrots . . . shown in the brochure.

I’ll let you know when the demo version is available so the CDM community can unleash its High Adrenaline Klezmer mash-ups on the world.

Apple has a new pro app for audio production called Soundtrack Pro, unveiled with Final Cut Pro Studio 5.
This isn't just a slightly beefed-up Soundtrack or a new app for video
– it looks like it could be a whole different way of working. Here's
an early look at some features I find interesting (at least on paper):

• It's a waveform editor: This is a serious audio
  editor at its core, complete with waveform and spectral views and the
  usual editing features, multitrack editors, and what looks like a cross
  between Logic Pro's WaveBurner for waveform editing and Soundtrack for
  matching to sound to picture.
• Action Layers and Action List: At the heart of Soundtrack
  Pro is a feature unlike anything I've seen
  before — you can reorder, A/B, and turn on and off layers and
  histories of edits for "what-if", non-desctructive waveform editing.
  Think Photoshop layers and history for audio.
• 

  Find-and-Fix: Automatically identify and repair audio problems like clicks, pops, and noise.
  

• Fully Automated: Integrated AppleScript support and OS X Tiger Automator support for fully automating audio workflows.
• Apple Loops Comes to Sound Effects: Doing video production? Take note: on top of the (expected) 5,000 Apple Loops, you can surf 1,000 included sound effects.
• Logic Effects: 50 included audio effects from Logic Pro 7,
  including the lush Space Designer reverb and Match EQ for deriving EQ
  settings from audio and applying them wherever you like.
• Supports AU effects
• Integrated Mixer: Mix audio in a more Final Cut-like interface, with full control surface support and out-of-the-box Mackie Control support.
• Integrates with Apple's Video Tools: A single command
  moves audio between Apple's various tools for instant editing, much
  like the Motion – Final Cut – DVD Studio integration we've seen in the
  last version of Apple's video suite.

So, what is this thing? Some rumors suggested that Apple was
abandoning Logic for a new audio app. Looking at Soundtrack Pro, I
think nothing could be further from the truth: just as GarageBand was
built on Logic's foundation and ultimately reshaped a later version of
Logic, this product says Emagic throughout, from mixing to effects.

Musicians will still want the instruments, etc., in Logic (which is
why
you can expect Logic to remain a separate product), but for general
audio work, this could be a major new tool. Let's hope its new
features, like Action Layers, Find-and-Fix, and full automation with
Tiger's Automator, show up in the next version of Logic Pro. (I imagine
you'll be able to exchange files with Logic via XML, but I'll find out
for sure.)

In the meantime, here are apps that should start to sweat: BIAS'
SoundSoap Pro and Peak, etc. could be rendered unncessary by Soundtrack
Pro's sharp audio editing tools, and even the mighty Pro Tools has some
new competition for video production, especially if Final Cut users
start doing audio editing in Soundtrack instead of Pro Tools.

US$299 list a la carte, or part of the new Final Cut Studio (with educational pricing on each.)